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Germany expelled two Russian diplomats after a court in Berlin found a Russian citizen guilty of killing a Chechen militant in 2019 in Berlin, following an order received from Moscow.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on December 15 that Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergei Nechayev had been notified of the expulsion of the diplomats.
Russia’s involvement in the assassination of Tornike Kavtarashvili in 2019 was a “grave violation of German law and German sovereignty,” Baerbock said.
The court in Berlin said that the perpetrator of Kavtarashvili’s murder was 56-year-old Vadim Krasikov, also known as Vadim Sokolov.
Kavtarashvili’s assassination in Berlin had worsened relations between Russia and Germany. But the court said its decisions were not influenced by political relations between Berlin and Moscow.
Krasikov is suspected of being an agent of the Russian secret service, the FSB.
Prosecutors said Moscow had ordered the assassination because Kavtarashvili, also known as Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, was the separatist commander in the North Caucasus between 2000 and 2004.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had called Khangoshvili a “bandit” and a terrorist.
Federal Prosecutor Nikolaus Forschner during the trial argued that it did not matter if the victim was a terrorist, as he had been an asylum seeker in Germany since 2016 and according to the prosecutor, Khangoshvili did not pose a risk that would justify his murder.
Forschner accused the Russian leadership of “disregarding the rule of law” and violating Germany’s sovereignty.
The Russian embassy in Germany said the court ruling was “politically motivated” and would further complicate relations between Russia and Germany.
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